'Westminster paedophile ring' abuse claims man could face charges

A man who claimed he had been raped and abused by a Westminster paedophile ring could face charges after the police referred his case to prosecutors.

The accuser, known only as Nick for legal reasons, sparked Operation Midland after claiming he had been abused for nine years by the VIP gang.

But the £2.5 million investigation closed without a single arrest, despite the Metropolitan Police raiding raiding the homes of D-Day veteran and former head of the Army Lord Bramall and the late ex-home secretary Lord Brittan.

In a statement, Northumbria Police said they had now passed a file to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to decide if charges of perverting the course of justice and fraud would be brought.

It said: "Last year Northumbria Police launched an investigation at the request of the Metropolitan Police Service.

"We can confirm on September 4 a file was passed to the Crown Prosecution Service for them to make a decision on whether or not there would be any charges in relation to the investigation.

"To date, nobody has been arrested in connection with the investigation."

The CPS said: "On September 4 we received a file of evidence from Northumbria Police into allegations against one person of perverting the course of justice and fraud.

"Our prosecutors will consider the evidence with a view to making a charging decision in line with the Code for Crown Prosecutors."

As a result Lord Bramall and Lady Brittan reportedly received £100,000 in compensation from Scotland Yard over the doomed probe.

A scathing review found there had been "numerous errors" and the Independent Police Complaints Commission opened an investigation into a detective chief inspector and two junior detectives over allegations they may have misled a district judge in order to obtain search warrants.

Former Met Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe apologised to those named during the probe, while Lord Bramall spoke of his anger that his wife died before he had been cleared.

Lady Brittan hit out after it emerged police decided her husband had no case to answer but failed to tell him before he died of cancer.